A Deadly Row mbtn-1

by Mayes, Casey

  “If they do, they’ll have to arrest me, too.”

  He winked. “Maybe if we ask Davis nicely, he’ll put us in the same cell.”

  “You’re in an awfully good mood all of a sudden,” I said.

  “I know I shouldn’t be; this is serious business. But I can’t let it kill my spirit, can I? We’re narrowing things down, Savannah. I don’t like the direction the investigation’s taking, but I have to admit it; I enjoy it when the puzzle pieces start to fit together.”

  “Did I miss something? Which pieces are you talking about?”

  “Come on, it’s too big a coincidence that the first murder victim was tied to Hank, Davis, and Grady.”

  “And Steve,” I added.

  “And Steve,” he agreed. “Let’s play with some possibilities. If Cindy was having an affair with Hank, it could explain why she was murdered, and it would tie the two homicides in together.”

  “What if she was seeing Grady before he admitted to dating her? Remember, the photos in the newspaper appeared at least a week before they met, according to Grady. How about Davis? It’s easy to see how he or Steve would be attracted to her. Cindy was a pretty girl.” In one of the photographs I’d seen of her, she’d looked so full of spirit, so alive, that it was hard for me to believe that she was dead.

  “Then she could have been killed out of jealousy, and Hank saw something or knew something that got him killed.”

  “All of those lives are so tangled together; I don’t know how you’re ever going to straighten it all out. How are you handling all of the things you’re learning?”

  Zach frowned. “I hate that three of my friends are involved in this mess, but if one of them is a murderer, I’ll see him hang for it.”

  “I know you will. It’s what you do.”

  “It’s more than that, Savannah. It’s who I am. I’m tough on the bad guys, and if any of my friends are involved, I’m going to be even harder on them.”

  WHEN WE GOT BACK TO POLICE HEADQUARTERS, I was still happy about Zach’s rare public display of affection.

  But the second we got off the elevator, that happiness vanished in an instant.

  Something bad was happening in front of the task force room, and I wasn’t sure if even my husband was going to be able to fix it.

  Chapter 17

  “STEP OUT OF THE WAY OR I’LL HAVE YOU THROWN OFF the force,” Davis was yelling when we hurried to him. Steve Sanders was standing his ground, and so far neither one of them had seen us.

  “The Chief said that no one goes inside without him.”

  “I’m the only chief of police around here,” Davis roared.

  “What’s going on?” Zach asked. He hadn’t shouted, but there was an edge to his words that neither man could ignore. My husband might not have still been the acting chief, but he hadn’t lost that edge of authority in his voice.

  “Good, you’re here,” Davis said, much calmer than he had spoken before. “You need to let me in this room, and I mean right now. I don’t know how you got Sanders to defy me, but I’ll see that he pays for it.”

  “You told me I could have any assistant I wanted,” Zach said. “I chose Steve. Nobody can have two bosses, Davis. You can’t just overrule me like this, not after giving me autonomy on this case.”

  “You work for me, too. Remember?”

  “If you’re going to act like this, maybe that’s not such a good idea anymore.” Zach turned to me. “Come on, Savannah. We’re going home.”

  “Back to the hotel?”

  “No, to Parson’s Valley. It appears that I’ve just been fired.”

  “You quit,” Davis said, his voice a whine now.

  “Call it what you will. But I won’t have you trying to impede my active investigation.”

  We were at the elevator when Davis came to us. “I’m sorry,” he said softly.

  “What was that?” Zach asked.

  “I said I was sorry,” Davis repeated, clearly not at all happy about having to do it. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”

  “Are you saying that it’s my investigation? No matter what happens?”

  He shrugged. “That’s what we hired you to do.”

  “Then I need to interview you,” Zach said.

  “About what?”

  “The murders.”

  “THAT’S NOT FUNNY, ZACH,” DAVIS SAID.

  “Do I look like I’m laughing? We can do this now, or I can wait until you take the time to get an attorney.”

  Davis shook his head. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  “Completely.”

  “I don’t need an attorney. Ask away.”

  “Not out here.”

  We headed toward the task force room, and I saw that Steve Sanders was grinning, though I wasn’t sure the other men saw it.

  “Go downstairs until I call you,” Zach told him, and Steve looked disappointed as he started for the elevator. With all that my husband had on his mind, he’d still seen that grin.

  In a softer voice, he said, “Savannah, you shouldn’t be here, either.”

  I was about to protest when Davis said, “I don’t have anything to hide. She can stay.”

  Zach shrugged, and I took it as an engraved invitation.

  Once we were inside, Zach and Davis took seats at one of the tables, and I found a spot where I could watch them both and hear everything that was said, but still be out of the line of fire.

  Zach pulled out his notebook, scanned it for a few moments, and then dove right in. “How well did you know Hank Tristan?”

  “We had several mutual friends in the community,” Davis said.

  Zach pushed his chair away and stood. “If you’re not going to be completely honest with me, there’s no need for us to have this conversation.”

  “What are you talking about?” Davis looked clearly puzzled by my husband’s behavior.

  “You were more than acquaintances,” Zach said. “You were business partners.”

  “How did you hear about that?” Davis asked.

  “That’s not important right now. What matters is whether it’s true or not. Don’t hold out on me, Davis. I mean it.”

  The new chief seemed to take it all in, and after a moment, he seemed to sink into his chair. “We were investors in a deal to develop some mountain land. I wasn’t the only cop in on it. Sanders had a stake in it, too.”

  “But I’m willing to bet that it wasn’t anywhere near the amount you lost.”

  Davis looked a little pale. “I sunk everything but my pension into it. When the planned resort went to Tennessee instead, I lost it all.”

  “You must have been mad enough to kill someone,” Zach said softly.

  “It was a blow, but we all took a beating on it. Sometimes in life you have to take a chance. I thought it was a sure thing, but I turned out to be wrong. A lot of people lost money on that deal.”

  “Even Hank? I heard he protected himself somehow.”

  Davis looked at my husband as though he had a crystal ball, or maybe even a Ouija board. “All I know is that he lost money, too. Not as much as I did, but he still felt it.”

  Zach shrugged, and then made a note in his book. “How well did you know Cindy Glass?”

  “What are you talking about? I didn’t know her at all.”

  “Come on, Davis.”

  Zach waited, and finally, the new police chief said, “I don’t care who you have as a source. I didn’t know the young lady.”

  Zach nodded, made another note, and then asked, “Why did you want to get into this room? What was so important?”

  “I’m getting a lot of pressure from high up. I wanted to see if you’d made any progress yet.”

  “Who’s pressuring you? Grady?”

  “You play things close to the vest, so I can, too.” He stood. “Are we finished here?”

  “For now.”

  Davis clearly didn’t like that answer, and it looked as though he was going to say something, but he thou
ght better of it and left.

  “What do you think?” I asked Zach the second Davis was gone.

  “I’m still not sure. The fact that I can’t rule him out is bad enough though, don’t you think?”

  “Were you really going to walk away?”

  Zach grinned at me. “Not on your life. I was bluffing, plain and simple.”

  “You had me fooled. I was starting to get excited about going back home.”

  He touched my shoulder lightly. “Is it really all that bad here?”

  “No, it’s been nice coming back, but it’s not home anymore, is it?”

  “Not so much. I wish I could tell you that this will all be over soon, but I can’t. I’ve got a feeling this killer isn’t going to stop on his own.”

  “Then you need to figure out who it is before he kills someone else.”

  “I’m doing the best I can,” he said as he reached for the phone. “Send Sanders to the task force room,” he ordered, and then he hung up before he could have possibly gotten a reply.

  “You’re good at giving orders; you know that, don’t you?”

  “That wasn’t an order. It was a request.”

  I laughed. “You might think you formed that as a question, but trust me, it was a direct order.”

  “I guess old habits are hard to break.”

  “Sometimes.”

  He stood and started pacing around the room. “There’s something here. I can feel it. It’s so frustrating knowing that there’s a clue I’m missing out on completely.”

  “It will come to you. Give it some time.”

  “I’m afraid that’s one thing we don’t have a great deal of left.”

  I saw the concern in his eyes. “Do you think he’s going to do something soon?”

  “What do you think? You read the note, too.”

  Zach walked over to the board, and then read the last communication to us aloud. “He’s taunting me. I can’t believe he threatened you, and I didn’t send you away.”

  “Even if you could get rid of me, which you can’t, where could I go? He knows where we live, Zach. The only way either one of us will ever be safe is if you catch him.”

  “Any luck with this code?”

  “I’m stuck,” I admitted. “There’s got to be a pattern to it, but I don’t know what it is.”

  “So, we’re both having trouble seeing the truth. The question is, is he really that good at hiding his intentions, or are these notes and codes just part of one big lie?”

  “I wish I knew.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  I could see that Zach was getting into a funk, and I had to help him stop it before it took over. If he began to doubt himself, and his abilities, I knew there would be no chance of stopping the killer.

  “What do we do next?” I asked.

  “What? What do you mean?”

  I waved a hand around the room. “We’re stuck when we look at these walls. Let’s get out and talk to more people. You always said that if all else failed, it was a good idea to stir the pot. So, let’s go stir.”

  He frowned for a few moments, and then nodded. “You’re right.”

  “Of course I am,” I said with a smile. “Who should we talk to first?”

  “Is there anyone more involved with this case than Grady? It’s time we had another chat.”

  We were walking out of the room as Steve Sanders showed up. “I thought you needed me.”

  “I changed my mind.”

  “That’s fine,” Steve said. “If there’s anything I can do, all you have to do is ask.”

  “How much did you lose on that mountain land deal?” I asked impulsively.

  “What? How’d you hear about that?” He frowned, and then Steve said, “Strike that. Davis told you. I lost five grand. It wasn’t a fortune, but I wasn’t happy to see it go, either.”

  “Five thousand dollars is a great deal of money,” I said.

  “Yeah, but Davis lost ten times that. It’s the only thing that lets me sleep at night.”

  “Did you know Cindy Glass very well?”

  “Who?” Steve asked.

  “The murder victim.”

  “Oh, yeah, I blanked out on her name for a second. No, not really. Why, what have you heard?”

  Zach was listening to our conversation—I knew it—though he didn’t appear to be paying attention.

  “Just a snippet here and there,” I said. “It was enough to make me want to ask the question.”

  Steve looked uncomfortable. “We had some mutual friends. I might have met her at a party once, but I can’t be sure.”

  “But you never dated her.”

  “No, nothing like that.” Steve looked at Zach, who had remained silent during the conversation. “What’s this about, Chief?”

  “We’re trying to cross as many names off the list as we can,” he said. “You know the routine.”

  “Sure, I just never thought I’d make it onto one of your lists.”

  “Neither did most of the people who’ve ended up there.”

  “What’s taking that elevator so long?” Steve asked.

  “I forgot to push the button,” Zach said, as he finally did so.

  “If that’s it, I’ve got work I can be doing downstairs, unless you want me to hang around here and guard the door.”

  “No, I don’t think that’s necessary. I’ll let you know when I need you again.”

  “Then I’ll take the stairs. I need a little exercise anyway.”

  After he vanished down the stairway, I said, “You didn’t forget to push the button at all, did you?”

  “I wanted to hear what he had to say.”

  “Then why didn’t you ask him yourself?” I asked as I pushed the button again. The elevator was as slow as cold molasses.

  “I was about to, when you stepped in and did it for me.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to butt in.”

  Zach smiled at me. “On the contrary, it was better coming from you anyway. If I’d have thought about it, I would have asked you to talk to him before.”

  “What do you think about his answers?” I asked as the elevator finally arrived.

  As we stepped in, Zach said, “I’m not sure. Is he hiding something? Did he have a relationship with Cindy Glass? He didn’t make it sound like five thousand dollars was a lot to lose, but I have a hard time believing it, don’t you?”

  “Then we’re no further along than we were before.”

  “That’s not true,” Zach said as the elevator opened and we stepped out onto the ground floor. “The more information we have, the better chance there is of solving the case.”

  It was overcast when we went outside. “Should we take the car? It looks like it might rain.”

  “It’s just a block. Let’s walk it.”

  “That’s fine with me.”

  As we walked toward Grady’s office, I asked my husband, “Should we call first?”

  “No, I don’t want to give him the chance to get away before we get there. It will be best if we can catch him off guard.”

  “I never dreamed this case would take this direction when Davis called you, did you?”

  “No, but I can’t help wondering what Grady was doing the first day we got here.”

  “You mean when he disappeared?”

  “Exactly. He couldn’t have been jogging the entire time, not if he just took it up. I keep trying to put each of my suspects in the killer’s shoes. It would have been easy for Grady to take that photograph of you in his truck, and then stash the camera somewhere safe until he could get back to it.”

  “Davis could have taken it, too. Or Steve, for that matter.”

  “If we’re naming suspects, I’d like to add Lorna’s name to the list.”

  I was surprised by that addition. “Honestly, do you think she could have had anything to do with these murders?”

  “Why, because she’s a woman?”

  “No, I fully realize that women can kill j
ust as easily as men can. I just don’t see her motivation.”

  “What if we’re looking at it all wrong?” Zach asked. “What if these murders are part of a bigger puzzle?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It might explain the clues on the backs of the notes and photographs, if they are indeed important, and not just a way to throw us off the killer’s scent. What if the two murders are connected, but not in a way that we’ve been considering so far?”

  “You’ve got my attention,” I said. “But I’m not sure where you’re going.”

  “Let’s say Lorna is our killer. She could have killed Cindy and Hank as a part of a frame-up to make Grady look bad.”

  “Would she commit multiple murders just to get back at an old boyfriend? She seems so happy now.”

  “Did you know that a lot of people who are about to commit suicide act more serenely than they ever have in their lives? Once they make the decision to do it, a kind of peace comes over them.”

  “Do you really think she’s going to kill herself?”

  “No, I don’t mean that. All I’m saying is that once she came up with a plan to ruin Grady, she could very easily have become more content with her life. She keeps pushing these breakfasts on you, and the two of you have never really been all that close before.”

  “I thought she wanted to make amends for the past.”

  “It’s possible, but she could also be trying to get information about the investigation out of you.”

  I thought about that for a few seconds. “She has asked about it every time we meet.”

  “When are you getting together again?”

  “We were supposed to have breakfast tomorrow,” I admitted. “But I’m going to have to cancel on her. I’m eating with Sherry instead.”

  “Do me a favor. Put Sherry off and meet with Lorna. Try to find out if she knew Cindy Glass, since we already know she danced with Hank the night he was murdered.”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I’m not crazy about doing that.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll ask her myself.”

  I shook my head. “No, she’ll never tell you anything she doesn’t want you to hear. I’ll do it.”

  “You could always ask Sherry for a rain check.”

  “I’m going to do better than that. I’m going to see if she’ll have lunch instead. It’s going to be your treat, by the way.”